The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lassaire Bradley Jr. When I get scared. A thousand times to see my grace. Redeemers praise the glories of my god and key, the triumphs of his grace. This is Sam Radley Jr.
inviting you to stay tuned in front of the message of God's sovereign grace. What? My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine for thee, all the follies of sin I resign my gracious redeemer, my Savior art thou if ever I love thee, my Jesus is none I love thee because thou hast First love and me and burjest my stream I love before wearing the thorns on thy brow If ever I love thee my Jesus is nigh in mansions of glory and endless delight. I ever adore thee in heaven so bright. I sing with the liquor run on my brow if ever I love thee, my Jesus is now.
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So now we continue with our series from the book of Joshua. Dealing with the sin of Achen that brought such disaster to the whole nation. But you see something. Say they Hi. through which much temptation comes.
Yeah. Absorbs. Whatever the scene may be, Whether it's a material object. Whether it's a lustful temptation to pursue an activity that is strictly forbidden in God's word. There is the sight.
And this is one of the reasons that God's people need to be very careful about what they look at. What you look at. On television. On your cell phone. in magazines.
He saw He coveted me. And then it It desired it. At that moment he couldn't think of any substantial reason not to take it. Why not? I might as well have it as somebody else.
If I don't get it, maybe somebody else will. It's amazing. How people can Reason and justify and defend their own sins. I was talking to a young man It was a drug dealer. I said Doesn't it ever bother you?
Don't you feel guilty when you think about how many people's lives you're harming by selling drugs? He said, Well I understand, but if they don't bite for me, they'll buy it for somebody else.
So I might as well have the money as the next fella. No deep conviction that His action was harming somebody else. I might as well have it. And perhaps that's the kind of reasoning that Aiken was using here. If I don't take this, somebody else may take it.
And then he hid it. It felt now of accomplish what I want. I'm putting it in my own tent. And while it doesn't say specifically, The implication here is that probably other members of his family were involved. That is, they knew what he had done because The law initially stated That if there was an individual who was guilty of a crime But other family members had not participated, they would not suffer the consequence.
But in this case Not only is Achan put to death, but his family's put to death. which probably says that they were. Privy to what was going on. If they hadn't participated in taking it, They knew it was buried in the tent. And so he hid it.
James chapter 1 verse 13 It says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. He's tempted. when he's drawn away according to his own lust, his own desire, This is something that I want for my pleasure, for my benefit.
I desire this. He's enticed by it. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And that was certainly the case here with Aiken. Think of it, all that God had done for Achan.
I had blessed this man. He was a part of that body of people who came across. The river Jordan with the waters rolled back. That had to be an awesome sight. Ere the waters heaped up like a great bank, And we March across the river.
Two million people coming safely across the river. As the observance of the Passover was reinstituted. He was a part of that. He was a part of those that marched around the walls of Jericho and had seen the mighty hand of God to cause those walls to crumble and fall flat to the ground. He was a man who had seen much.
In way of the display of the power of God, and enjoy it much as far as His marvelous grace and mercy. Buddy. Rebelled. And did explicitly what God had forbidden the people to do, not to take of the spoil.
Now, at a later time, they were invited to do so. But on this occasion, all of the gold, all of the silver belonged to God. And the people were not Take it. How did you think about They benefits and blessings that Achan had enjoyed. Make a personal application of that in your own life.
Think about God's abundant mercies upon you. His blessings in your life. to provide the material things that you have need of. To give you a reasonable degree of health, that you're able to be here in this assembly today. Watching over you, caring for you, holding you up in times of doubt, fear, and discouragement.
And yet when temptation appears. You sometimes covet. Desire. Take that which is forbidden. Oh, that we might be stirred in our hearts.
to want to honor Jesus Christ our Savior because of what he has done for us. Because of His great sacrifice at the cross, because of His sustaining mercies on a daily basis, because He has forgiven our sins and cleansed us, why would we want to continue in sin as an affront to Him? See, there was no way to hide from God. Jeremiah chapter 16 in the 17th verse says, For mine eyes are upon all their ways, they are not hid from my face. Neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
God says No matter where you are, no matter where you go, no matter how you try to hide. You'll not be hidden from my face. Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 24. Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord.
Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord. There's no place to hide. You know, when Jonah was attempting to run from the Lord, he went down into the hold of the ship and went to sleep, and I guess thought for the moment he was successful. He was getting away from God and able to move in the opposite direction of where he'd been told to go. But God knew where he was.
God found him and God dealt with him. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 14: For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Every secret thing. He will bring it to light. Stolen things.
They were brought Out.
Now in the presence of all the people. making it clear that Aiken Is in fact guilty. He's not being falsely accused. It's God Himself that has taken charge of this procedure. It says we'll start with the tribe and we'll go on to the household, we'll go on to the family, we'll go on to the individual, and so it is obvious that God is revealing that Achan is the sinner.
That he has caused the downfall of the entire nation. People would been commanded In very clear terms. Nobody could say, well, I didn't understand this. I thought that the victor always could claim the spoil. Is that not?
A common understanding. No, God had said you are not to partake of it. It's called the accursed thing, and you partake of it, and you're going to be accursed. And it's Christians. We're commanded.
to deny self. Not to love the world. Of the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. These things are not of the Father, but they're of the world. And if we fail, And we're Taking that which doesn't belong to us, which is concentrated to the Lord.
It says you're not your own. You're bought with a price. But if we're using Our time. Our resources. Our abilities, our talents, our money, whatever it might be, we're using it for selfish purposes rather than to the glory of God.
We're doing exactly what Achan did here. What a foolish thing for a person to think. I can steal from God. Malachi chapter 3 verse 9. Question was asked, will a man rob God?
Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? in tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Now, the New Testament principle is this: God loves a cheerful giver, and let every man give as he purposes in his heart. But if we become greedy And we do not give. We're robbing God. We're using for our own personal benefit. our own carnal, worldly, selfish desires.
that which actually belongs to God. How far Foolish. to think that you can First of all, Disobey God. and he won't know about it. that you can hide the accursed thing and God's not going to deal with it.
or to think that you can rob God. and it will be ignored. Judgment.
now is to be meted out. Chapter 7, verse 24. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah. and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his tent, and all that he had. And they brought them unto the valley of Acor.
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? That's the meaning of his name. The meaning of the name Achan is trouble. The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
Should Now, you're learning something about the God of the Bible when you look at these passages. How many people in this modern day would say, oh my God, would never do that? My God is only a God of love. And we rejoice in the truth that he is a God of love. And apart from his love and mercy, all of us would be condemned and ruined forever.
But God in his holiness hate sin and will punish sin. And Achan had violated the law and he was under law service and the penalty was death. And so They stoned them to death. and then burned them. with fire.
We see here how much trouble can be caused by one. person. The whole Israelite army was defeated. because of the achin in the camp. One person.
Circulation of Bad news. Among the Keithan. was the result of this one man's sin. The heathen had Trembled and been fearful at first, but now they're going to say, well, if the little city of AI could. Drives them back.
What do we have to fear?
So the news that went out was adverse. Sin of one person. brought his own death and the death of his family. God's judgment upon them. We see other examples of that in Scripture.
On one occasion King David had numbered the people.
Now that might seem harmless to us. What could be wrong with numbering them? Why not take a census? But God had specifically said, don't do it. And David got in his mind that maybe it would be.
would be an advantage to us and so we went ahead and did it. And what was the result? God sent a plague on the people and 70,000 people died. How then can we imply? Sin.
Is Not all that bad unless it reaches some horrendous proportion, but just The day to day sinful activities that might overtake any of us, it's it's it's not all that. important. That's one saying. King David Violated God's command, number the people, and seventy thousand people died. The Apostle Paul said, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil.
Warner pound it. One man Standing against the apostle. We don't know all that he did. But this one man caused him to suffer greatly. And then another example.
We go to the book of 3 John, looking at the ninth verse. Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words, and not content therewith. Neither doth he receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Here is one man.
Doctories. He feels he's important. He wants to have the preeminence. He wants to have the last word. He wants to dictate to the church.
He wants to be absolutely in charge. And John says, when I come I'm going to remember his deeds. He's been prighting against us with malicious words. He's not content therewith. He will not receive other brethren.
And he casts those out of the church that would. One person. Yeah. Can cause such trouble, such devastation. Does it not mean that each of us Should search our hearts, try our ways.
Pray, Lord. If there's sin in my life. That not only is marring my fellowship with thee, But having an impact on others, make me to see it, make me to see my own sin. Give me grace to confess it and to turn from it. A selfish person.
and disrupt and destroy. A marriage. A parrot Who wants to be A buddy to their child rather than a parent. to train them, discipline them, guide them in the way they should go. Can have long-term negative impact on that child.
A person who gossips. described in James 3, 6 as setting on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. That's pretty strong language, isn't it? to talk about gossip. Had a person Tell me one time and we were talking about a entangled situation in which they had become involved and We talked about this issue of gossip and the person said, but what I said was true.
Well, just because it's true doesn't mean that you're entitled to say whatever you want to say and destroy other people in the process. If it's gossip, It's destructive. It's tearing down other people. It's harming other people. It's described.
as setting on fire the course of nature, setting on fire of hell. And then Proverbs chapter 6, verse 19 says. He that soweth discord. Among the brethren. is something that God despises.
So in discord. Oh, how easy. It is just slip. into that mode. Here's what I think, here's what I want, here's my goal, here's what I want the outcome to be.
How about a Pull in this person's influence. I don't want this person to... have the respect that they've formerly had. And they sow discord. Great evil.
Done. by one individual. and many suffering the consequence of it. Verse twenty-six. It says, and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day.
So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger, wherefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor unto this day. After they had stoned Aiken, His family His flocks, his herds. Burnt up his tent, everything that he had.
Now it says that there's a heap of stones, Marking the place. It's a reminder. Here are the consequences. Here's what happens. When a person becomes self-willed and rebellious, I'm going to do what I want to do, no matter what God has said.
This seems acceptable to me. I'm going to do it my way. But it brought Disaster. destruction to Achan and his own family. at a great loss and setback.
for the whole nation. It indeed is a reminder that God does not tolerate sin. That God's commands, what God says in His Word, it's all to be taken seriously. We're not given the liberty to add to it or to take from it or to say, well, this just seems a little unreasonable to me. I don't feel comfortable with this.
I think there ought to be some other way to observe this. No, we're not to add to or to take from. And he said this was at the valley of Acor. refers to trouble. It was a troubled place.
It was a dark place. It was a place of destruction. But In the very place where there had been trouble. It was at one time And one future day going to become a door of hope. This brings us back, if you recall, when we were studying the book of Hosea to a wonderful expression, Hosea chapter 2, verse 14.
Therefore, behold, I will allure her.
Now remember, Hosea's wife named Gomer. What's that? Fallen woman An unfaithful wife. She had gone far astray. And it might be thought, surely, I'll say it will save.
She doesn't deserve my affection. I might as well let her go. But he says, I will allure her. I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her. and I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Acor.
For a door of hope. The place that had been the scene of destruction would become the place of blessing. And just as Hosea would go after his wayward wife, God would go after his wayward wife, Israel. Israel. Had been guilty of idolatry, unfaithful to her husband.
But God says, I will allure her. I will bring her into the wilderness, but not there to destroy her, but to bring her to the door of hope. That's good news, isn't it? to know that if one has wandered far Sin greatly. There's sin.
Has cut off their communion and fellowship with God and brought great. destruction and chastisement. that as they come to the valley of Acor. There is a door. of hope.
That hope. Is according to his mercy and his grace. Oh, there are many practical lessons to be learned as we look at this seventh chapter of the book of Joshua. To learn never to follow the path of this man, Aiken. Much damage, much harm done by one man.
to himself, to his family, to the nation. What should be our response? Lord, help us. To make the practical application of it. We read these things are written aforetime for our learning and admonition, not just to acquaint us with a historical account, but that we can learn something beneficial, practical to us in a way of serving God today.
As the Lord said, up, sanctify the people. Let us be up today, sanctifying ourselves in that practical way in which is laid out in the book of Colossians, that we put off the old man and put on the new. And that we come humbly before our God, confessing our failures, our wanderings, our sins, asking that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness, restore to us the joy of our salvation, and bless us in an abundant way in this day and time to the glory. of his name. We're holy as God is horrible.
Well, it's wonderful after reading about these dark times in Israel's history. to know that there is a door of hope And the God of heaven is our hope, and we look to Him for the forgiveness of our sins and to sustain us that we may live in a way that brings honor to His name.
So now until next time, may the Lord richly bless you all. God gives grace sufficient and strength to run the race and he calls us to be holy. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lessere Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217.
As God is holy lily as God is holy just as he who calls us is holy
